Indian Navy Hosts Milan 2010

by OldSailor on February 6, 2010

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Indian Navy’s Milan 2010 a biennial meeting of navies from the Indian Ocean region/Asia-Pacific region commenced on February 05 at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The four day event is being participated by 12 navies from Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.

On this occasion, an international seminar on "Navies in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations" was also held on February 05.

Here is a photograph from Press Information Bureau.

Participants of the International Seminar on "Navies in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations" with the Lt. Governor of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Bhopender Singh and the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma.

The 13-nation Milan Exercise hosted by the Indian Navy has inched towards converting itself into a joint task force for Asia-Pacific region including Australia and New Zealand, with India having a leading role in combating maritime terror, poaching, gun and drug-running.

Milan, a five-day biennial event which ended in Port Blair on Monday, witnessed the navies from nations across South Asia, South East Asia, apart from Australia and New Zealand, debating common concerns and threats in the region during a day-long table-top simulated exercise to arrive at a consensus on "jointmanship and inter-operability" as the only possible antidote.

"The 2004 Tsunami, when 30 navies operated in the region to provide relief and succour to the several thousands hit by the natural disaster, has come as a realisation for the nations in the region on the need to cooperate and work together to tackle issues that afflict the region.

"Terror by non-state actors, gun-running, drug-smuggling, poaching in the exclusive economic zones and illegal migrants are common troubles that the nations in the region face. We have to come together and work jointly, learning from each others experience and expertise," Andaman and Nicobar Command Chief Vice Admiral D K Joshi said in Port Blair.

Though the grouping may not transform into a "military bloc" or a grouping against any country including China, but it would ensure inter-operability among the Milan nations to work side-by-side in times of need and provide India a strong foothold among the naval forces of the region.

"Already, India is holding bi-annual joint patrols with the Indonesian and Malaysian navies along the international maritime border. We may have to hold such patrols or operations with each of these navies in the Indian Ocean Region in the future," Joshi added.

Besides exchanging notes on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief including community participation, logistics issues and means to prevent tragedy, the 13 navies others to participate were Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei also talked about the possibility of joint efforts against piracy in the Indian Ocean Region as a whole.

"Milan-2010 is a joint exercise. We are looking at a joint task force against piracy in the region in which all these nations can contribute," Australian patrol boat HMAS Glenelgs Commanding Officer Lt Cdr Shane Doolin said, when asked about the future roadmap for Milan.

New Zealands Maritime Component Commander Commodore Ross Smith, when asked about Milan, said the initiative was good in the sense, India’s role as a major naval power in the Indian Ocean region was acknowledged by all nations.

"Indian Ocean is your (Indias) ocean. You need to man it. We are always looking for opportunity for joint exercises with Indian Navy, which is big in size," he said.

As an indication of things to come, the nine participating warships from the countries in the region in Milan, saluted the Indian Landing Ship Tanker (Large) INS Kesari, a 5,600-tonne amphibious warship, as a parting gesture during a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the Bay of Bengal, as they left Port Blair on their voyage back to their respective countries.

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